Punto Banco — What the Name Means, How It Is Played, and How It Differs from the Older Baccarat Games
Punto banco is the baccarat you will find in almost every casino and live-dealer studio in the world. In the United States and Macau it is simply called baccarat; in the United Kingdom, continental Europe and Australia the table sign often still says punto banco. The name is the two bets: punto is the Player hand and banco is the Banker hand. What sets punto banco apart from its ancestors, chemin de fer and baccarat banque, is that the casino always holds the bank and nobody at the table makes a decision after the bets are placed — every draw follows a fixed table. This page explains the name, summarises the rules, gives the exact payouts and house edge, shows what a typical shoe looks like, and lays the three forms side by side. All probabilities come from an exact enumeration of an 8-deck shoe.
What "punto banco" means
| Term at the table | Meaning | What it is in plain English |
|---|---|---|
| Punto | "point" (Spanish/Italian) | The Player hand, and the bet on it. Pays 1 to 1. |
| Banco | "bank" | The Banker hand, and the bet on it. Pays 1 to 1 less 5% commission. |
| Égalité / Tie | "equality" | Both hands finish on the same total. Pays 8 to 1 (9 to 1 at some tables). |
| Natural | — | A two-card total of 8 or 9. Nobody draws; the round is decided at once. |
| Baccarat | "zero" | The game's name is also the word for the worst hand: a total of 0. |
| Tableau | "table" | The fixed drawing rules. "Playing by the tableau" means no choices are made. |
Because the two words are just the two hands, "punto banco" and "baccarat" describe the same game at a modern casino. If a rulebook, a live-dealer lobby or an older British guide uses the term, nothing about the cards or payouts changes — the baccarat rules and third-card chart on this site are punto banco rules.
Punto banco vs chemin de fer vs baccarat banque
Three games share the baccarat name. They use the same card values and the same goal — a total closest to 9 — but differ in who holds the bank and who makes decisions.
| Punto banco | Chemin de fer | Baccarat banque | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who holds the bank | The casino, always | Players take turns; the bank passes round the table | One player (or the house) banks for a set period |
| Who decides to draw | Nobody — a fixed tableau | The player holding the Player hand and the banker both have limited choices | The banker has choices; player hands largely follow convention |
| Hands dealt | One Player hand, one Banker hand | One Player hand, one Banker hand | Two Player hands (left and right) against one Banker hand |
| Bets you can make | Player, Banker, Tie, plus side bets | Against the banker's stake only | Against the banker, on either Player hand |
| Skill element | None in the play of the hand | Small — a careful choice on certain totals | Small, mostly on the banker's side |
| House income | 5% commission on Banker wins (or a rule change in its place) | A fee on the banker's winnings | A fee on the banker's winnings |
| Where you find it today | Every casino and live studio | A few European casinos, private games | Rare |
The practical difference is the second row. In chemin de fer the person holding the Player hand may, on some totals, choose whether to take a third card, and the banker reacts to what they see. In punto banco that freedom was removed: the Player hand always draws on 0–5 and stands on 6–7, and the Banker hand follows a chart that depends on the Player's third card. Removing the decisions is what let casinos deal the game at speed, bank it themselves, and publish a precise house edge for every bet — which is the figure you see below. The story of how the game moved from France to Las Vegas is on our history of baccarat page.
Punto banco rules in one screen
- Bet on Punto (Player), Banco (Banker) or Tie before any card is dealt. You are betting on which hand wins; you do not "own" a hand.
- Card values: Ace 1, 2–9 face value, 10 and court cards 0. Only the last digit of a total counts, so 7 + 8 = 15 counts as 5.
- Two cards each are dealt, Player first. A two-card 8 or 9 is a natural and ends the round.
- Player hand: draws a third card on 0–5, stands on 6–7.
- Banker hand: if the Player stood, draws on 0–5 and stands on 6–7. If the Player drew, the Banker draws or stands according to the Player's third card — the full chart is in the rules guide, and how often each case actually comes up is on third-card rules explained.
- Closest to 9 wins. Equal totals are a tie: Tie bets are paid, Player and Banker bets are returned.
That is the whole game. There is no bust, no splitting, no doubling, and no moment where a player's judgement changes the cards. If you prefer to learn by dealing, the free baccarat game on this site follows this exact tableau with virtual chips.
Three worked punto banco hands
| Hand | Punto (Player) | Banco (Banker) | What the tableau does | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 + 4 = 7, stands | 2 + 3 = 5 → draws 9 → 14 = 4 | Player stood, so Banker draws on 5 | Punto wins 7–4 |
| 2 | K + 5 = 5 → draws 2 → 7 | 4 + 2 = 6, stands | Banker 6 draws only if Player's third card is 6 or 7; it was a 2 | Punto wins 7–6 |
| 3 | 8 + A = 9 natural | 5 + 3 = 8 natural | Both naturals; nobody draws | Punto wins 9–8 |
Notice that in hand 2 the Banker hand would have had a better chance by drawing to its 6 against a standing 7 — but punto banco does not allow it, because the chart says stand. That is precisely the point: the tableau is the same for every dealer at every table, which is why the probabilities below hold everywhere.
Payouts and house edge in punto banco
Banker wins 45.86% of rounds, Player 44.62%, and 9.52% are ties. Ignoring ties, Banker wins 50.68% of decided hands — the reason the Banker bet carries a 5% commission.
| Bet | Pays | House edge | Average loss per 1,000 wagered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banco (Banker), 5% commission | 0.95 to 1 | 1.06% | 10.58 |
| Punto (Player) | 1 to 1 | 1.24% | 12.35 |
| Tie | 8 to 1 | 14.36% | 143.60 |
| Tie | 9 to 1 | 4.84% | 48.44 |
| Banker at a 4% commission table | 0.96 to 1 | 0.60% | 6.0 |
| Banker, no commission (6 pays half) | 1 to 1, except 6 | 1.46% | 14.58 |
| Banker, EZ (three-card 7 pushes) | 1 to 1, except 3-card 7 | 1.02% | 10.2 |
Banco is the cheaper of the two main bets at a standard table; Punto becomes the better choice only at a "6 pays half" table. Side bets such as pairs, Dragon 7 and Panda 8 are not part of classic punto banco and carry much larger edges — see baccarat side bets. A full comparison of the Banker and Player bets, including the commission arithmetic, is on Banker or Player and baccarat commission explained.
What a punto banco shoe looks like
Punto banco is dealt from an 8-deck shoe of 416 cards (some rooms use 6 decks; the figures barely move). With a cut card one deck from the end, a shoe produces about 74 hands; many live rooms run 70–80. Expected counts for an 80-hand shoe:
| Event | Per hand | Per 80-hand shoe |
|---|---|---|
| Banker wins | 45.86% | 36.7 |
| Player wins | 44.62% | 35.7 |
| Ties | 9.52% | 7.6 |
| Naturals (either hand) | 34.31% | 27.4 |
| Player hand takes a third card | 50.34% | 40.3 |
| Banker hand takes a third card | 43.54% | 34.8 |
| Banker wins with a total of 6 | 5.39% | 4.3 |
| Cards used per hand (average) | 4.94 | |
Those averages are what a punto banco scoreboard "should" look like over time; a single shoe wanders far from them. The Banker share of a 72-decision shoe falls anywhere between 39% and 62% in 95% of shoes, which is why a shoe that "ran Player all night" is ordinary rather than suspicious. How the dealer actually works through a shoe, including the burn procedure, is on how baccarat is dealt.
Why punto banco has no strategy in the hand — and what that leaves
In chemin de fer a careful player could squeeze a slightly better result out of certain totals than a careless one. Punto banco deleted that lever. Once you have placed a chip on Punto, Banco or Tie, the outcome is decided by the order of the cards and the tableau, and nothing you do afterwards changes it. Three things do still matter, and they are the only things:
- Which bet. Banco at 1.06% beats Punto at 1.24%; both are far better than Tie at 14.36%.
- Which table. A 4% commission table cuts the Banker edge to 0.60%; a "6 pays half" table raises it to 1.46%.
- How much and how long. Expected loss is edge × total wagered, so stake size and hands per hour set your hourly cost: a flat 1-unit Banker bettor loses about 0.85 units per 80 hands on average, with a standard deviation around 8.3 units.
Everything else — streak-following, scoreboard patterns, progressions — rearranges wins and losses without changing their expected sum. The honest version of a plan is laid out in baccarat strategy, and what scoreboards can and cannot tell you in reading the big road.
Punto banco FAQ
Is punto banco the same as baccarat? At a casino, yes. "Baccarat" on a modern table means punto banco. The older forms, chemin de fer and baccarat banque, are also baccarat but are rarely offered.
What does punto banco mean? Punto is the Player hand, banco the Banker hand. You bet on one of them (or on a tie); you do not play a hand yourself.
Is there any skill in punto banco? Not in the play of the cards — every draw is fixed. Choosing the bet with the smaller edge and controlling how much you stake are the only decisions that affect the long run.
Why does the Banker bet pay commission? Because the fixed tableau makes Banker win 50.68% of decided hands. Paying Banker at even money would give the bettor an edge, so the house keeps 5% of Banker wins.
Which is better in punto banco, punto or banco? Banco: 1.06% house edge against 1.24%. The exception is a no-commission table where a Banker 6 pays half; there punto is better.
Is punto banco played with 8 decks? Usually. Some tables use 6; every probability on this page moves by less than 0.1 percentage point.
Can I choose to draw on 5 like in chemin de fer? No. In punto banco the Player hand always draws on 5 and the Banker's response is read from the chart.
To see the tableau at work on real cards, record a shoe with the free Baccarat Scoreboard app, which marks naturals and third-card draws automatically, or follow live punto banco tables hand by hand in the baccarat terminal.
Probabilities and house edges: exact enumeration of every card order in an 8-deck shoe under standard punto banco drawing rules (Baccarat Terminal, 2026). Per-shoe figures are expectations, not predictions. 18+. Information only — not a gambling service and not betting advice.